Every freelancer dreams of landing The Big Gig with a major corporation. I have a friend who does writing for a retail company that's in every mall in America and has been around for over one hundred years. Yes, it's very cool to land those massive projects that fill up multiple months and come with a large payday. But we don't all make it there.

Your best asset is your location. Whether you live in a small town of a few thousand or a metropolis of millions, your community is made up of a bunch of other businesses and residents. And depending on what your freelance field happens to be, many of those people around you are potential clients.

As a designer, I find that I work well in a business-to-business situation. I brand other businesses and help them craft marketing materials that give them a better chance of being noticed. Wedding photographers, on the other hand, tend to work with non-business clients. Copywriters often work for marketing contractors or others within the creative professions. Whatever it is that you do, figure out who your ideal client is and discover where those people are locally.

Geography has a funny way of pushing work your way, too. There's power in having the guts to do your work in the place where you live. If a project goes sour with a big client in another country, I suppose you can lower your profile and avoid that circle of influence in the future. You can't hide in your own town, though, and people innately understand this, even if they can't articulate it. Which is why clients will routinely hire local talent over someone online.

Find a group like that near you, or maybe a local co-working space where you can rub shoulders with others like yourself. There's power in being a local business, so tap that source and channel it into your own business.

Networking

My business really took off when a friend introduced me to a local networking group. I had never heard of groups like this before my friend suggested it, so I don't want to assume you have either. The basic idea is built around belonging to a group of likeminded business owners who are willing to get to know you and then keep you in mind when they meet people with business needs. If one of these people bumps into an old friend who's getting married, and the old friend asks if they know of a good wedding photographer, this networking group associate has the opportunity to pass along your name. The expectation, of course, is that you'll do the same if the opportunity arrises for you.

The most common example of this kind of group is your local Chamber of Commerce. Those are usually larger groups, and there is bound to be a number of other people doing the exact same thing as you. There's a yearly cost involved as well, but even a few hundred dollars can become a wise investment if the 12-month membership nets you half a dozen new clients. Belonging to the local Chamber also has a way of giving your business a bit more clout and respect, something that helps unsure clients find the last bit of trust that pushes them over the line toward hiring you.

My networking group was a bit different. This group had a limit of one member per profession, meaning that by joining, I became the only graphic designer in the group. If another designer visited, they weren't allowed to talk about their business or join. Sounds a bit rough for the visiting designers, but it meant I had a captive audience within the group. I was the designer in their book, and received 100% of their design-related referrals.

Now, these groups come with a cost, as I've said, but it's not just a financial one. Most of them require regular attendance. My group met weekly, taking up nearly two hours of my morning, and also encouraged weekly meetings between individual members to get to know their businesses better. I didn't care for the early morning meeting times, either.

On the positive side, though, this group made me a better businessman. I learned a lot about being professional, about speaking in public about my services and experience, and about finding and nurturing new client leads. And I gained a ton of new clients, which was the ultimate goal.

My recommendation to you if you are struggling to find and keep new clients is to get out of your office and explore a networking group. The opportunities and experiences will only make you a better freelancer.

Stay Observant

The last bit of advice that I can offer up from my experience is something that I'm not sure is teachable, but I can certainly put a spotlight on it nonetheless.

There's a fine line that we can walk between desperately seeking work and being ready and available to jump in and help when it's needed. As a freelancer with a particular skill set, that's what you ultimately need to try and do. Finding clients can often just boil down to listening.

I eavesdrop, I must confess. I was recently sitting in a café working on some projects with my headphones on, enjoying some music. Across the way, maybe 10 feet, was a couple, sipping on their coffee and talking in an animated fashion. At some point, my curiosity got the better of me and I paused my music to listen.

It turns out that these people were in business together, and they were passionately debating how best to market themselves in the local community as well as online. One believed they needed to go cheap, spread their funds across as many gimmicks as possible and cross their fingers. The other, though, felt that they somehow needed to solidify their brand.

I am a designer who spends the majority of his time helping businesses and people brand who they are and what they sell. App icons, book covers, and logos for businesses and their products are all within my area of expertise. I had a lot to say to these people, and in my head I could hear this voice telling me that they needed my help. I also didn't want to be an overbearing, unwelcome proselytizer either.

In the end, though, I did walk over and simply mentioned that I had overheard their conversation about branding. I offered to let them pick my brain and see if the information I had was something that could help them. It was a no-pressure chat, and they walked away with two things: a better understanding of the decision they had to make, and my business card.

Oh, and they called a week later, too.